New to Cruising

[teach01]

Hello all, August 15th will our first cruise. We got a great rate through our TA for the cruise and we are used to all-inclusives, on average what has on paid at the end of the cruise---I have seen figures ranging from $900 to $400.

 

Thanks for any help.

[birdyhunter]

$400 is a little light in my opinion. The question you're answering is hard to answer. It all depends on how much you drink (soda and alcohol). Expect to pay at a minimum $70 per person in tips (room steward, waiter, assistant waiter, head waiter). Add to that drinks, sodas, specialty coffees, dinner reservations a specialty restaurant, shore excursions, bingo and the list goes on. We just got back from the Adventure of the Seas and we don't drink much and our tab was over $900.

 

Hope this helps.:cool:

[teach01]

Thanks Birdy---very helpful. We are not big drinkers and as of right now my DH does not want to do any excursions---now Bingo and the Casino could prove to be a problem!

[PhoenixCruiser]

LOL, our final bill was over $4,700, and we didn't buy any excursions :eek: We had a fantastic time and cannot wait to "get out there" again :D

 

Bingo is $35/per person/per session. You can also buy additional final game cards. This can get a bit expensive, especially when they (occasionally) hold Bingo twice a day.

 

Have fun planning :)

 

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[njreindeer]

Phoenixcruiser, you're scaring the $#@&*! out of me! :eek: $4,700?! Yikes! I don't mean to pry, but as a first-timer who's really hoping not to have a SeaPass tab that high... can you please give me an idea what made up your bill? How many people was it for? Lots of bar bills, or did you include your excursions in the total?

 

Please respond soon, so I can start breathing again! :)

[Mike&Nancy1539128145]

I just looked up our account from the Voyager 2-03. It was approximately $750.00. This did not include any excursions ( we booked seperately from the ship), or bingo. It did include casino, flowers, shopping on board, photos, and lots of drinks. An average of 4-6 pp per day. We paid it off 2 times while on board, and the only remaining balance left was $50.00 which we left on the credit card. It seemed to help to keep track of it daily, and when it became a little uncomfortable we paid it off. You will spend different amounts different days, some more some less. I remember one day we spent only $13.00...not bad!! Maybe it will help you knowing that you can keep track of it daily, and adjust accordingly. Regardless, I'm sure you'll have a great cruise...don't let the money scare you. The memories will more than make up for it.

 

Nancy

[teach01]

WOW!!! We want to keep costs down, I can only imagine my husbands facial expressions when he sees the tab!!!!!

[PhoenixCruiser]

Phoenixcruiser, you're scaring the $#@&*! out of me! :eek: $4,700?! Yikes! I don't mean to pry, but as a first-timer who's really hoping not to have a SeaPass tab that high... can you please give me an idea what made up your bill? How many people was it for? Lots of bar bills, or did you include your excursions in the total?

 

 

Sorry, didn't mean to scare anyone, just telling it like it is :)

 

It was for two of us and YES, the majority of it was for beverages....we both played Bingo every session except one. We made some purchases in the on-board stores - alcohol, cigs, jewerly by the inch, some clinque items, and a shirt.

 

We ate at both speciality restaurants and based our tip on comparable local restaurants -- service was excellent btw.

 

We had some dry cleaning/pressing done, watched two in-room movies ($9.95 each), this also included our tips which for the most part were for our room steward and room service (got cash from the Casino).

 

We didn't purchase any excursions or photos.

 

And, to help with your breathing :) , our last Seapass bill was only $650. On this vacation, we decided to let loose, relax, and not really care about the cost. I'm sure you'll be fine, and you can check your account on the TV.

 

Have fun planning :D

 

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[sally r]

We usually spend $100 per day for the two of us. That is for drinks, on board shopping, bingo, casino, tips, pressing service, etc. It just seems to always add up to that no matter what.

[njreindeer]

Thanks so much for the details Phoenixcruiser, I'm breathing again!:) I had heard that bingo can be expensive on the ship, and thankfully, I don't think we'll be playing. although we'll probably hit the casino once or twice. And thanks to everyone who posted your Sea Pass totals, I'm hoping that ours are more in line with yours!

 

It's so hard being newbies and not knowing what to expect on the ship! Our cousins were recently on Voyager's 9-day out of Bayonne, and they only spent $900 total for both of them, which I thought was low for a 9-day trip. After our cruise, I'll definitely write a review and let everyone know what the damage was to our Sea Pass account!

 

Thanks again for the info! :)

[just4kixx]

Excluding the excursions (which we booked ourselves outside of the cruiseline) and tips, our family of 4 racked up a seapass of $465.92 For our 7 day cruise, that included 1 round of bingo for 2, 2 photos, a few souvinirs from the gift shop, but mostly bar tabs. No specialty restaurants onboard.

 

Tips were paid in cash > than suggested amount + head waiter, a very friendly guy :D

 

Excursions were $600 or so.

 

That averages out to about $50pp/day... I think someone else said that number too!

 

HAve a super trip

A

[Cruiseador]

We usually spend $100 per day for the two of us. That is for drinks, on board shopping, bingo, casino, tips, pressing service, etc. It just seems to always add up to that no matter what.

Sally,

 

Did you get a drink card?

[emilygrace]

Geez, I feel like such an old penny pincher here! So far, we have had sea pass bills of around $100 for both of us for 7 days. We book and pay for our excursions before we even board the ship and bring cash for tips. The only thing that goes on the bill is any drinks we may buy and specialty coffee drinks for DH and one or two items from the shops. We don't play bingo and we bring cash for the casino, not that we drop a lot in there. On our very first cruise I played about $20 in the slots and won $300! We don't go near the spa, either. Big $$$$ there.

[Honey's Gal]

Everyone is so different on how they spend their money, and this is normal. Our seapass account usually is around $1,000. This would include any excursions, any pictures, all drinks (there are 3 couples and we take turns paying at dinner), and anything in the shops, liquor to bring home etc. It does not include tips or any casino spending. I usually bring some cash. At the end of the cruise I will put the cash left to pay down our account.

 

We plan on this amount of money, so it does not bother us. We save to enjoy our vacations and what helps is that we are always at least a year ahead in our vacation account. This is what it is for and this is only what we use it for.

 

Hopefully you will spend only what you want and can afford and that will make your cruise more enjoyable. So don't worry, bring what you can afford to spend and it will work for you. Just go and enjoy.

[Beffy1167]

DH and I are in the $100 per day range (for both of us). We do tend to book day-long excursions through the cruise line because we like the comfort of knowing that they keep track us and won't leave us behind if they run late. Shorter excursions, we sometimes book through the cruise line, sometimes not.

 

Neither of us is much of a drinker...one or two each in the evenings after dinner/during shows is about it. We've never even dropped so much as a dime in the casinos. (In fact, except on the ships where the casinos serve as a nice short-cut from port to starboard or vice versa, we never even walk into the usually smoke-filled casinos!) And we wait until the end of the cruise to buy souvenirs when they sell t-shirts (which is our usual souvenir) much more inexpensively. Excursions are usually our biggest expense, next one being the specialty restaurants. We also spend very little shopping in the ports. 'Bout our biggest expense is the refrigerator magnets I insist on collecting from every port of call. (Which DH teases me about incessantly!)

 

But even with tips added to our card, we always average out to right around $100 per day.

 

My best advice is this: If you have a set budget that is comfortable for you, it's not that hard to stick with it and still have a wonderful time.

 

And if you can afford to splurge, look me up and I'll start drinking more heavily! ;) (JOKING!)